A Kingdom of Dreams
A Scottish heiress and an English knight in a marriage of enemies
A Kingdom of Dreams is the gold standard of enemies-to-lovers historical romance. Jennifer Merrick is a Scottish heiress who loathes the English, and Royce Westmoreland is the English knight who captures her in a political marriage designed to end a blood feud. They start as genuine enemies and slowly, painstakingly, build something real.
McNaught writes grand, sweeping romance that doesn't apologize for its emotional intensity. The stakes are high, political, personal, life-or-death. The slow shift from hatred to understanding to love is earned through hundreds of small moments and massive revelations about who these people actually are beneath their national loyalties and family obligations.
It's medieval romance that feels lived-in rather than costume drama. The time period matters, the arranged marriage, the clan feuds, the limited options for women, but the emotional core is timeless. Two people who should hate each other learning that the person they were taught to see as an enemy is actually the love of their life.
A Scottish heiress and an English knight in a marriage of enemies
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What draws readers to books like A Kingdom of Dreams
You want enemies-to-lovers with actual enmity. Where the hatred is rooted in history, politics, and family blood feuds, not just personal animosity. Where choosing to love each other means betraying everything they were raised to believe.
You're drawn to epic, sweeping romance that spans geography and time. Stories that feel big, castles, battles, political intrigue, family sagas. Where the personal relationship is set against a backdrop of historical consequence.
What you're really craving is that specific flavor of historical romance where the hero and heroine are both strong-willed, both right from their own perspectives, and both have to bend to find common ground. Where falling in love requires genuine transformation rather than one person simply capitulating.
Book recommendations
The Wolf and the Dove
by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
A Norman conqueror and a Saxon woman forced into marriage after the Battle of Hastings. She hates him, he's determined to win her, and the slow shift from rape-revenge premise to genuine love is controversial but foundational to the genre.
The Flame and the Flower
by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
The book that started modern historical romance. A woman mistakenly sold into prostitution is rescued/ruined by a sea captain and forced into marriage. Dated in places, but the template for everything that came after.
Whitney, My Love
by Judith McNaught
McNaught's other masterpiece, a young woman in love with one man is married off to another by her father. It's enemies-to-lovers with massive misunderstandings and emotional angst throughout.
Lord of Scoundrels
by Loretta Chase
A brilliant woman meets an arrogant lord and refuses to be impressed. They marry quickly and spend the rest of the book figuring out how to actually be partners. Sharp, funny, romantic.
Flowers from the Storm
by Laura Kinsale
A duke has a stroke and loses the ability to speak, and only a Quaker mathematician sees that his mind is intact. Unconventional, emotionally intense, and beautifully written.
Common questions
Is A Kingdom of Dreams problematic by modern standards?
Yes, in places. There's forced marriage, dubious consent in early scenes, and medieval gender dynamics that are authentic to the period but uncomfortable for modern readers. If those are hard lines, proceed with caution.
Do I need to read McNaught's other books first?
No, it's a standalone. McNaught wrote several interconnected families across books, but each story is complete on its own. If you love this, you might want to read her other work, but there's no required order.
How does this compare to modern historical romance?
It's old-school in the best and most challenging ways. More emotionally intense, less concerned with modern sensibilities, unapologetically big in scope and feeling. If you're used to contemporary historicals, this will feel both familiar and startlingly different.
Related tropes
Common in these genres
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Want a romance where loving each other means choosing each other over everything you were taught to believe? Imagine a story where you and your enemy are forced together by circumstances beyond your control, where every moment of understanding feels like a betrayal of your family, and where falling in love requires becoming someone new.
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